My earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,821,024 describes a miniature connector of the type that has a housing with a body that fits into a receiver passage, and a latch on the body that has a latch handle. An RJ-45 type latch of the fully inserted connector, has shoulders that engage receiver shoulders to prevent connector pullout, until the latch handle is depressed to move the latch shoulders under the receiver shoulders. My earlier patent describes a secondary latch that can be slid forward to lie under the latch handle and prevent its accidental opening, and that can be slid rearward so the latch handle can be depressed.
The above type of miniature connector, especially when it is used to couple two optical fibers, is commonly used in pairs. One connector of the pair is used to receive signals from a source and the other connector is used to send signals to the source. Many connectors may be present in a connector complex. Sometimes the wrong two connectors are paired and only after other sources of errors are checked out is the mismatching of connectors discovered. Other applications required more than two connectors to be used as a group.
It would be desirable if pairs (or more than two) of connectors could be held together indefinitely, but could be separated once in a while when one of the connectors had to be serviced as to clean the tip of its fiber and ferrule, or to replace a damaged part. Also, it would be desirable if the one connector of a pair that did not have to be serviced, could continue to carry signals without interruption while the other connector was removed and serviced. Such holding together should be provided at little if any additional cost for the connector described in the above patent that has a sliding secondary latch, and with the holding together provided without interference by the sliding secondary latch.